After a start that coach Shannon Sawner has deemed up and down, the De Soto wrestling team will begin the second half of its season Saturday at the Burlington Tournament.

The field will consist of 16 teams, primarily representing 3A and 4A schools. The tournament will provide the Wildcats an opportunity to develop some much-desired consistency.

“We’ve had a few tournaments this year where we’ve wrestled well but made some small mental mistakes that has hurt us on the scoreboard,” Sawner said.

If those mistakes are eliminated this weekend, Sawner said his squad had a good chance to be competitive in the tournament.

“We always want to improve upon what we did last year, so this year at Burlington our goal would be to finish in the top five,” he said. “If we eliminate those mistakes we have a lot of potential in some of our kids.”

Sawner said he would field a full varsity squad with openings only at the 112-pound and 130-pound weight divisions. He added a few of his talented freshmen should get the nod this weekend.

“We still need to develop them a bit, but we’ll wrestle Shane Bunn at 103, Christian Zwahlen and Brent Johnson,” he said. “The freshmen may take some lumps in the next few weeks, but we’ll continue trying to prepare them. There’s a fine line between taking lumps and getting them discouraged.”

One newcomer who Sawner expects to help immediately is transfer student Cole Cannon. Cannon, who made the move from St. James this year, was a state qualifier last year.

“He’s looked good in the wrestling room and has been undefeated in his 15 or 16 JV matches for us,” Sawner said.